Cameco employees in 'shock' after company announces hundreds of Sask. layoffs

Employees permanently laid off by uranium miner Cameco Corp. in Saskatchewan say they have been blindsided by the company's decision to make the temporary suspension in production indefinite.

"We were told up till yesterday we would be returning to our jobs in November of 2018," said Denis O'Hara, the president of Local 8914 ofUnited Steelworkers union,which represents Camecoemployees.

"And now we have been blindsided," said O'Hara, who was also laid off.

Cameco announced Wednesday that about 550 employees from the Key Lake and McArthur River uranium mine sites have been terminated, and another 150 were laid off from the corporate head office.

Some of the employees had already been laid off in November when the company suspended production at the two sites due to a surplus of uranium on the market.

The closures were expected to last 10 months, but CEO Tim Gitzel says the market has not improved and has only worsened in that time.

Gitzelsays themarket has become progressively worse since the Fukushima Dachii nuclear disaster in 2011.

"The Japanese very quickly shut down 54 reactors, which was about 20 per cent of the world market. And sothat really had a huge effect," Gitzelsaid, noting over the course of the past seven yearsuranium prices have slid toabout $23 U.S.a pound from $75.

'Disbelief and disappointment'

O'Hara says there was no word fromCameco that the halt inproduction might be extended until the laid-off employees were terminated.

He says morale among currentand now former employees is low, and people are feeling "awhole lot of emotions" including "shock, disbelief and disappointment."

According to O'Hara, he and many people believed they would be back to work in the winter.

"The day before the announcement, a union member contacted me and asked my opinion of whether we'd be returning," he said. "Me, being an optimist, Ithought I was going to work come December 1 and I was wrong."

O'Hara, who is 61,says he now mustdecide whether to retire or try to find work somewhere else.

Last year, when the temporary layoffs began, Camecotold workers they would be paid 75 per cent of their base salary and retain their benefits during the 10-month layoff.

Now that their jobs have been terminated,workers have the choice to be put on a 36-month recall list or officially end their employment with Cameco and take aseverance package that O'Hara calls not very lucrative.

Northern impact

These layoffs bring bigger picture implications for the northern Saskatchewan communities where Cameco is a huge economic driver.

The mayor of La Ronge, a small community with a lot of Cameco employees, says he's worried about what will happen to his town.

"These are people who have made good salaries and developed a life in the North," RonWoytowichsaid, adding there are no equivalent jobs to those held at Cameco.

"And now the very people that are suddenly unemployed, I would almost bet that a lot of them will end up leaving our community."

He says there will be a "massive" economic cost if people start to move out of La Rongeand other small northern communities.

"If they are going to be leaving, if they are selling their property there will be a reduction in values. There will definitely be an impact to a lot of the community businesses, grocery stores, any kind of store they have been spending at," he said.

"This is a massive economic driver in our communities and its going to hurt."

'Waiting game until the price recovers'

On Wednesday, Camecosaid it would start to buy uranium to fulfil its contracts, with the goalof using some of the excess supply on the market.

According to uranium analyst, the uranium market is in a "rebalancing phase," and it's only a matter of time before the market picks up again and Camecocan resume its production.

"At some point the price will rise high enough to where it's going to make more sense for them to bring McArthur River back into production then continue buying," said Nick Carter, an analyst for a uranium consulting company.

"I think it's just a matter of time its a bit of a waiting game for them until the price recovers."